NCSE News / General Topics

"Darwin, the Origin, and the Future of Biology" is a celebration, sponsored by the British Council and the Open University, of the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species — and it will be available to watch on-line!

Hear E. O. Wilson and Everett Mendelsohn discuss "Frontiers of Evolution" on-line! Starting at 1:00 p.m. (Eastern) on November 24, 2009, a panel of scientists led by Wilson and Mendelsohn will discuss Darwin's legacy and the frontiers of evolutionary biology, as part of the 150th anniversary Origin of Species lecture series, hosted by The Reading Odyssey and the Darwin 150 project — and the whole event will be webcast live.

As November 24, 2009, the sesquicentennial anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species, approaches, celebrations are continuing around the country and around the world, as well as in the literature and on the internet.

The phenomenon of Islamic creationism was addressed by two major newspapers, The New York Times (November 3, 2009) and the Boston Globe (October 25, 2009), in the wake of a recent conference at Hampshire College on evolution in the Muslim world.

Hear NCSE Supporter Sean B. Carroll discuss "The Making of the Fittest: Natural Selection and the DNA Record of Evolution" on-line! From 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. (Eastern) on November 4, 2009, Carroll will deliver the third lecture of the 150th anniversary Origin of Species lecture series, hosted by The Reading Odyssey and the Darwin 150 project — and the whole lecture will be webcast live.

A special issue of the Journal of Effective Teaching, a peer-reviewed electronic journal devoted to the discussion of teaching excellence in colleges and universities, is devoted to the topic of teaching evolution in the college classroom.

A recently published statement on current scientific knowledge on cosmic evolution and biological evolution from the Pontifical Academy of Sciences concludes: "The extraordinary progress in our understanding of evolution and the place of man in nature should be shared with everyone. ... Furthermore, scientists have a clear responsibility to contribute to the quality of education, especially as regards the subject of evolution."